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Home » Asphalt Contractor » March 2008

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Floridas largest road project underway

Ajax Paving Industries Inc. embarks on a three-year I-75 Mega Project, the largest highway project in Floridas history, and the road crews are up to the task.

The project is the biggest in the Florida Department of Transportations (FDOT) history, and is also the largest project Anderson Columbia has worked on. For more information on each segment of the project.

The I-75 project has been fast-tracked, meaning the companies will have to complete in three years what was envisioned initially as an eight-year project.

The project calls for polymer-modified asphalt, which delivers better performance and longer life in hot and cold conditions than standard rubberized asphalt.

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If a contractor takes more time than he bids, he pays for the extra days, and thats his risk. If he finishes ahead of schedule, FDOT pays him the established rate per day, Reid says. Normally, there are a maximum number of days you can bid, which is the maximum contract time.

On this job, there is so much work to do - especially permitting, etc., which can slow you down early - that we felt we needed all that time, so we bid all 1,150 days that were possible, he adds.

If Ajax finishes early, it can win a maximum incentive bonus of $15 million, for 150 days.

We have a lot of incentive to deliver the project to the public five months ahead of schedule, and a lot of incentive not to take any more time than we need, Reid says. With an additional penalty of $117,000 per day, the team faces a total of $217,000 per day in penalties for every day we finish behind schedule. And thats a pretty steep penalty.

Jaramillo speaks of the I-75 Mega Project as a David-and-Goliath sort of coup for Ajax, who outbid two of the largest construction companies in the United States for the project.